Sanity
 

I think after about six months of getting opinions, seeing aircraft, talking to a broad spectrum of people and getting some flak on here, I really have to go for it. Best unpaid job I could ever get isnt it. Doing a CPL and an instructors training seems reasonable . At least anyone who took me on as an instructor would know I am not going to leave to go and fly tourist tubes. (no offence to the atpls here.....):ok: Just wish I had this opportunity 30 years ago but getting shot at in different countries was an education not to be missed.Rather be doing it at 51 than at 61 or not at all.

OK so its not a jet, who cares? B200 seems to know its place and does its job well and given they are still building them It speaks volumes for their popularity and reliability and seems better suited for the shortish trips we will be making.

I would rather do the FAA training here than the states for many reasons if it is possible, mainly though because we live in "the real world" over here and our airspace and weather, as others have commented, is vastly different, And I cant speak American either which doesnt help! (what does "gotten" mean?)

Does anyone have a solution to doing FAA training here ?

It sounds to me like you really do have an awful lot of research still to do! people on here have answered your questions and tried to give you good advise but you seem to take offence at this and disregard it anyway. You seem to be jumping around at different ideas and have no clear direction. You stand to lose an awful lot of money very quickly in the unforgiving nature of aviation - I really hope you dont and wish you well.

Flying a Jet Privately
 

Firstly you would need all the tickets mentiones ME IR. The C500 also requires a type rating then you have to do a single pilot rating as the C500 was not originally designed as a single pilot aeroplane unlike the CJ!.
If you obtain the rating then keping it is very difficult legally.
As has been said you will have major issues with insurance but really unless you have a few hundred hours plus on complex ME pistons I wouldnt even think about it. Speeds over the ground in decent 350knts plus means things happen very quickly.
If you are serious then it is a very rewarding to get your rating and fly what is very nice aeroplane all be it very old technology as a single pilot aeroplane it requires alot of work the CJ1 is much easier.

well I can see where the 'radical' bit came from. I assume we are talking real aircraft here and not add ons for MS Flight Sim?

Radicalrabit, the advice that you have been given on here is very sound and comes from a bunch of us who are actually flying the high performance aircraft that you aspire to.

It is a long and arduous road and not something you know out in a couple of years.

However if you want to come and take a look at the workload in flying a high performance aircraft I will happily take you for a trip. 22,000ft at 220 KTAS with an IAP at the end should give you an idea of where you need to be heading. This is basically B200 speeds so should give you a sound idea.

Going to Sweden on Sunday returning Tuesday. Plenty of space Malc.

Sunday
 

Thanks for the offer Bose but this weekend's too short notice.

I'll pm you my number so we can plan something else if thats ok?

Thanks
 

Thanks to the forum and the pilots and others who responded.

I now have a proper training plan, a realistic time table and a clear view of what we are going to buy and operate and why.

The B200 won hands down in the end mainly due to the shorter trips we want to do (apart from the ones to France and Spain) that a Jet would be inefficient on.

Just need to find the right aircraft now, but that will have to wait a few weeks yet.

I had loads of really useful PM's apart from the postings on here and I might even bore you all with the details of my training as it is a bit different from the norm.

smell that ?........The waft of jet exhaust fumed propwash ........ :)

if you flew the King Air on 1 engine.

I would be looking for 290 KTAS at 22K.

Not the King Airs I have flown. Even with the BlackHawk engine upgrades. Although granted I might be thinking of the 90.

Mid 250's seems to come to mind. And the offer was to give an idea of speeds which I am sure you would agree 220KTAS is closer then the 100kts spamcan trainers he is used to?

Argh the confusion!
Youngskywalker, this post:was not referring to your posts, it was referring to THIS one...
by "A Very Civil Pilot"

Thought I'd clear that one up :rolleyes:

are we un confused yet ?
 

1500 HOURS IN 2 YEARS AVERAGES ABOUT 3 HOURS A DAY given some time off to spend withthe horses and sleeping and reading and planning and ....
I mix 1500 hours between three types, Cherokee Six Seneca and B200
I have a planned training schedule and have at the moment six different pilots who offered to fly the left and right hand seats as required when required.
I can fly MY aeroplane when I want and where I want and not where someone else wants to go and I fly in all and every type of weaather supported by some really experienced guys. Mixed in with full time instruction.

To me that is the best flying I can ever get and the best bit is that someone else is footing the costs of all of it. Think that beats winning the lottery ! O k so I dont get paid for flying but well you cant have everything.

Aparently I still get paid for fixing computers and teaching diving to the boss and her familiy . Hope some of you come and spend some time on the boat next year as a thank you fpor your help !

I think you my be a little unrealistic with 1500hrs in 2 years...... Apart from the fact that you are only a student and when that is complete you will be a vanilla PPL the weather is your worst enemy. I fly most days, I teach and I travel for business. I have a JAA IR and and CFIK aircraft that will fly above most of the weather. I still get weathered off a lot and still only manage around 400hrs a year. Most professional pilots don't manage much more.

Your are 5 years away from 1500hrs as an absolute dedicated flyer.

Weather
 

Thanks Bose, I can always use experienced comment.

With all due respect for your experience and I completely understand the problems of uk weather, I can go to France or America or Italy to hours build where the weather is better than here. Just going from Barton on a dull grey drizzly morning to find a fine clear day over at Gamston has shown the differences of flying here. Having said that though , you know what you are talking about so I am not going to disagree am I? I will just have to fly every day that I can, and hopefully the weather will not be too bad. Maybe going to learn in Barbados would be a better bet? just try to dodge the tropical storms? If i can only do 2 hours one day I will have to cram in a few more the next.
:ok:

I find it exhausting just contemplating the task you have set yourself. A relentless flying and study schedule in such a short period of time would leave anyone shattered!

I agree with Bose that a two year target is on the optimistic side. 700+ hrs a year even with scheduled duty hours and an ops department in support is enough for most people... and that includes the days when one would rather do anything rather than go flying again... Study, airport aggro and life WILL grind you down if time is a self imposed pressure.

I would have thought signing up to a full time ab initio ATPL/IR course and accepting a low hours tally for the first year would be a wise investment and give you the best possible theoretical grounding. This would then leave you free to concentrate on the flying....

Just a thought...

Also I would factor in sick time, when I was doing 400-500 hours a year as a corporate Pilot I seemed to suffer from lot's of colds/blocked ears and sinuses no doubt brought on from poor cabin air, constant pressurisation and de-pressurisation (remember in something like a King Air at high cruising altitudes the cabin ALT may be about 9-10,000feet, quite tiring after a while and I'm a fairly fit and healthy 32 year old), also you can probably write off at least one if not two months a year on maintenance if you are doing those sort of hours, especially on an older King Air.

My bet is you will be sick of the sight of a cockpit after six months of that amount of flying!

Most of us here are just jealous of course, I for one would love to be able to go flying whenever I wanted and in a great machine like the King air!

1500 in a king air
 

Am more likely to end up with getting bounced by a horse so Yes time off is a consideration.

We may have access to substantial funds but I dont think wasting it is on the agenda. £843 an hour (300 per year stats ) for 1500 hours is over £1 1/4 million!

So while a lot of flying time is going to be in the B200 I want to use both the Seneca Cherokee and something else as well to get a diversity of experience not to mention saving a huge amount of money.

Recently started looking at PA-31-350 though with the cost of fuel as it is they are getting expensive to operate too.

I AM RELIABLY INFORMED I can fly that without an additional pilot and do some of the trips up to Scotland and Ireland and IFR any time after multi engine Intrument course.


(awaits further abusive pm's)

I'm sure there is no need for the abusive PM's!

I guess it all comes down to how good you are. Some people pick things up easily and quickly and can be very competent with relatively low hours, total flying hours don't always tell the whole story when judging how good or knowledgable a Pilot may or may not be. As mentioned before it also comes down to how many years of exposure to the flying industry that you have, how many accident reports that you have read, how many friends or aquaintences that you have lost in flying accidents over the years (I can count 4 now in 15 years and have learned something from them all). You could just be very talented at flying and have a natural flare for it.

Learning
 

:)I have been reading AAIB reports since I started learning to fly the first time with Raven Air 20 years ago, shame I had to give up then but such is life. I was told it is wise to learn from your mistakes but better to learn from the mistakes of others. I try to undertsand why people might have done what in hind sight looks stupid or why engineers seem to do or not do things that result in the loss of aircraft soon after maintenance. I ponder the outcomes and the implications of what happens when things go wrong. I hope I benefit from seeing the things people did right, made damned good wheels up landings, dead prop landing etc etc. Hope I learn to get things that right too.

As for flying skiils or aptitude for the job in hand, I got into a Cherokee Six a month ago, for the first time at the controls since '84 and was told I obviously hadn't forgotten much. I managed to fly it holding heading straight and level, climb and descend and in trim climbing and turning and coping with some turbulence had about 40 minutes of a refresher. Far cry from days at Manchester Airport slotted in between the big stuff though. I have spent the best part of the last six months trying to re learn things but until I get my medical my flying is going to be pretty limited. Its a steep learning curve but then everything I ever have done has been so thats nothing new.

Anyway seems a few people have faith in me not to make a complete:mad:k up of it and when that faith amounts to over a £1/4m of investment in training and the equipment to train in, I have probably a better chance than some.

Maybe, as some have stated, its a shame that chance was given me instead of someone younger but it came to me so I'll do the best I can. It has already stimulated my eldest daughter to do better at maths and science because she wants to fly now. Just see what happens!

Radical

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying you can't do any of this, just that from your current starting position your plans and timetable seem a bit over ambitious, especially now that you have mentioned 1500 hours in 2 years, and (forgive me if I have missed a bit) being a full-time instructor.

I feel it would be a bit like me, having done some sailing 20+ years ago, come up with a plan to enter the single-handed trans-Atlantic race!

instructing
 

Excuse me but I was under the impression that quite a few people going the cpl /atpl route do instruction justas a means to build hours, rather than as an end in itself? Leaving a problem of continuity in training among other things.

I thought being an instructor for the job itself would be good. So do tell me why in my case it cant be done?:ugh: